Ronald B. Epstein (born December 15, 1942) is an American scholar and translator, specializing in Mahayana Buddhism.

He received his Masters in Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Washington in 1969 and his PhD in Buddhist Studies at UC Berkeley in 1975.

[1] Epstein was a lecturer in the philosophy department at San Francisco State University from 1971 to 2003.

He was a founding member of Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) and taught there from 1977 to 2011.

[3] Epstein was one of the signed proponents for Measure H, an ordinance that bans the cultivation, production or distribution of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).